


A Sleepless Night

by ThinkOfSomethingNiceToSay



Category: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard - Rick Riordan
Genre: Early Mornings, Exploration, F/M, Fencing, I Don't Even Know, I guess this is before they got together?, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, M/M, Valhalla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 17:29:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13323009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThinkOfSomethingNiceToSay/pseuds/ThinkOfSomethingNiceToSay
Summary: Somehow they both end up in the same place at the same time.





	A Sleepless Night

**Author's Note:**

> All I was thinking is "hey they should talk" throughout this whole thing. I hope I didn't rush too much. Also! Magnus has a panic attack near the end, I don't think it's super in detail but be wary. You can start skipping from "was that a no?" Then start again at he blinked blearily

  
     Alex Fierro was wide awake, not completely having managed to sleep through the night at all. Which, yknow, happens sometimes, not much of a big deal actually. However, she had been severely bored just hanging around in her room, and that is precisely why she was now directionlessly strolling through the halls of Valhalla.

       As she roamed, the place seemed unnaturally calm. Not quiet, there were still people who stayed up this late, evident by the sounds of weapons, conversation and very loud yelling over what was definitely a videogame through closed doors, but it was considerably more hush than it usually was through the day.

     She drummed her fingers viciously on the walls or anything else well within her distance in order to make a beat. So far she had only passed other's rooms and there wasn't much fun in closed doors unless you were listening through them, so she had to do something until she reached something more interesting or else she would fall victim to the exact same thing that she'd left her own room for. Suddenly, she came across a small square sign that had written in english, brail, and norse, the word _stairs._

      Alex tapped her chin, wondering where to go from here. Maybe what a cheerful person would say in this situation would be _'the only way you can go from here is up!'_ Implying that she should head up the stairs.

     She went one floor down, internally defiant of the cheerful voice in her head that sounded reminiscent of some sunny and peppy cheerleader or something.

     Speaking of sunny, there a few feet in front of her running a hand along the wall while he walked was none other than Magnus. "What the hell are you doing at 5 am?" She greets.

     He turns his head abruptly toward her, meeting her eyes with a confused expression. "Alex?"

    "Unless you know someone else who looks and sounds just like me" she states, approaching him. "But you still didn't answer my question."

    "I had a bad dream, yanno, the usual, except it got progressively worse than usual and I decided to stay up." He stated. Alex immediately got it. You see, Magnus was a very well practiced sleeper.

    Yes, she knows, shocking right? With how often and for how long this guy passed out everyone in the 9 worlds could figure that out. But, just because someone did something often, didn't mean that they did it well. Because just as all his friends knew that he spent a more or less healty amount of time unconscious, they also knew that more often than not he had terrible dreams, considering the fact that he usually woke up screaming.

    But, not really what she was asking. "Yea, not what I meant but ok. I meant why the hell are you _roaming_ Valhalla at 5 am". Magnus pauses, as if wondering to himself why he was also, but then just shrugs "the same as you I guess" he says sheepishly. Alex rolls her eyes at him and shakes her head as if she was not doing the exact same things he was, deciding to walk ahead. "Well, then I guess you'll be accompanying me now. C'mon". He doesn't follow after her for a moment, then decides that this would be the only offer and if he didn't go now he'd be left in the dust by her. He speed walks up to be by her side.

    Alex glances over at him, immediately noticing a certain someone nowhere to be seen in pendant form or otherwise.

   "Where's Jack?" She asked, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity.

  "Jack ditched my hall quest a couple minutes ago when he saw a particularly attractive sheild hanging on the wall as we walked past it, I figured I should let him have his fun."

"Wow a sheild? I didn't think they were his type, Too defensive"

    "Any inanimate object is his type if it's hot by talking sword standards, I wouldn't know the type for any sword that doesn't talk" that makes Alex wheeze a laugh, causing Magnus to look over at her for a bit longer than necessary. "Well, color me shocked."

      They rounded a corner, Alex finally managing to see something she didn't recognize as a room or a class she might've took. It was a pretty decently sized room, at least the size of a normal gym, and seemed to be a fencing class. "I guess there aren't enough opportunities to sword fight through the day" Magnus says voice full of sarcasm.

     "Clearly not since you're still hardly able to hold one on your own."

     "Not true. I can- I can hold one." He meets her expression for a second then sighs in defeat. "Well I can hold one. Fighting and winning however is a bit more iffy". Alex walks over to the swords and pulls one out. It's immediately noticeable that, following the Valhalla aesthetic, this sword is way sharper than a regular fencing one. "lucha contra mí, bitch" she says, pointing the sword straight at Magnus. "Sorry, I prefer my head ontop of my shoulders, thanks." Alex rolls her eyes. "I'll try not to kill you."

    Unfortunately enough for Magnus that did not at all mean take it easy. He was on the ground in under a minute, a green and pink converse on his chest and the point of a sword directly underneath his nose. "I think this is against the rules."

"Like anyone would play by the rules with this?"

     Magnus huffed. "Maybe someone would." He reclaims his sword then loses again just about as quickly. "I've accepted at this point that I am not an expert. I don't remember even seeing you hold a sword."

     "Doesn't mean I can't figure out how to swing it around" she says, smirking.

     They finally leave after he loses an indefinite amount of times. ("I'd probably do better with more rest, like, lose less horribly maybe.") Once they start strolling aimlessly again, Magnus starts randomly asking questions, seeming more curious than bored. "If you had to choose between pink and green, which would it be?"

"Pink and green work side by side and there will be no other way."

"What's your favorite...fruit?"

"Wow Magnus that was lame."

"Apricot."

"Now ask me a question"

"Why is Magnus so nosey."

"Ouch."

     Magnus still had something to talk about, something completely different. He was easy to read where she could just tell that way.

     They continued to walk side by side, a solid silence between them until Alex clicked her tongue. "Go ahead." Magnus turned toward her, wearing another severely confused expression. How he managed to come up with completely new faces that conveyed the same emotion you would never understand. "I know you wanna talk about your nightmare, so go ahead, shoot, before you pop an artery."

     "Since when do you want to hear other people's feelings though? I thought you beat emotional interactions off with a stick"

    "Inaccurate, mostly just yours."

    "Ha, ha." Magnus immediately adds to this with the very mature response of a raspberry.

    "Was that a no?" Magnus shook his head, still taking a second to start, but eventually sighing. "It was about my mom. But, it was extremely vivid. It was like I was reliving my last few days with her and I _knew_ how it was going to end and I-" his voice cracked. He went completely silent for a minute then spoke so softly she could hardly hear. "I couldn't do anything."

    "Magnus, look at me" she reached out for his elbow gently, turning him toward her without any effort. He was shaking way too much and breathing too hard. "It wasn't your fault. I don't need to know everything that happened to know that, it just wasn't. There was no way you could have predicted that."

    He blinked blearily and nodded, just so she could know he heard her. "Everything in the 9 worlds isn't your fault, you're good man. Only 1/3 of it is." Magnus snorted and gave her a shaky smile. "Thanks."

    Neither said anything, far from an uncommon practice with them sometimes. Magnus turned and leaned on the wall, sliding down into the ground. Alex squatted in front of him. "You're pretty cool."

"Yeah, I know."

"Mmhm, but I wanted to let you know that I think so."

"Can it, flirt."

     His cheeks went pink and somehow, despite looking sleepy and a complete mess, he glowed. "Thanks for showing up."

    "I didn't know I would, but sure."

    Magnus smiled at her warm, and very goofily, and Alex can't help if she feels affection swirl around in her chest.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I did their interactions ok. :)


End file.
